BJP's multiple woes

The Bharatiya Janata Party claims to be a 'party with a difference'. The only difference I find is the large number of misfit Ministers in charge of subjects that are Greek and Latin to them. Once they are forced to leave for "inefficient handling" of their portfolios, others of their kind are appointed to the posts. The "experience" of these Ministers is directly proportional to the Ministries they have ruined. This seems to be the basic cause for the "multiple woes" of the BJP (September 13).

The saying that troubles never come in single files but in battalions is applicable to the BJP. It gets into trouble again and again. Its pride is hurt now and the hurt may remain for some time to come.

No doubt, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee is endowed with outstanding leadership qualities and a powerful personality. But he depends on the "multiple" leaders of the National Democratic Alliance.

A.S. Raj Received on e-mailKashmir elections

Praveen Swami's "Democracy at gunpoint" (September 13) was commendable. Such journalistic endeavours demand courage and honesty of the highest degree, for which Frontline is a an example.

In reality, it is the wholesale slaughter of hapless Kashmiris that is happening in the valley at present. They are caught between the guns of both sides. Selective political killing is going on with impunity. Will these inhuman acts stop some day?

Bablu Mir Received on e-mailJharkhand riots

It is unfortunate that the RSS-BJP combine, after having targeted Muslims, has now focussed attention on Christians, the latest instance being the blaming of tribal Christians for the 'Jharkhand domicile riots' (September 13).

The violence on the domicile issue was between tribal and non-tribal people and not between Christians and Hindus, as projected. No sane individual would believe that tribal Christian youth were behind the pandemonium and that Christian missionaries are forcibly converting Hindu tribal people into Christianity. In fact, Christian missionary institutions, whether social or educational, are doing excellent work throughout India; for which they are respected. It is fundamentalist organisations like the RSS, the VHP and the Bajrang Dal that foment communal hatred and violence in the Hindu population by cashing in on its religious sentiments. Instead of spreading communal hatred and disharmony in the name of religion, these so-called Hindu organisations should try and stop television commercials that depict Hindu gods and other mythological characters in poor light.

S. Balakrishnan JamshedpurU.S. agenda

Looking back, one wonders whether something similar to Venezuela was sought to be enacted in India immediately prior to the Emergency ("A subversive agenda", September 13). Indira Gandhi's warnings against CIA games had then been laughed off by most of us, seething as our educated classes were in the conviction that the United States could do no wrong as the defenders of freedom and democracy around the globe. That such an agenda is being shamelessly attempted in the richest and most urbanised Latin American country and against a President who won a six-year term in a landslide victory, should make people in our country sit up and take note.

R. Sajan Aluva, KeralaPalestinians' fight

The report provided an interesting perspective from the Palestinian angle ("Fighting for Survival", September 13).

In the unipolar world, where one gets an overdose of Western opinion, it is refreshing to read a report from the ground level. I expect more such reports from your magazine.

T.S. Raghu Received on e-mailGavaskar it is, but...

Kanta Murali's arguments in favour of Sunil Gavaskar as India's greatest cricketer (September 13) are not merely persuasive, but unexceptionable. It was a delight to read the illuminating exposition of Gavaskar's greatness; without exaggeration, it was like reading a cogent and enlightening judgment of the Supreme Court of yore.

The concluding paragraph of the article is particularly apposite and I entirely agree with and heartily endorse the incontestable verdict that "...(Gavaskar) deserves to be named the 'Indian Cricketer of the Century'''. It is the term 'the century' that I do contest. I think it is elementary that the century means the present century or this century. I wonder whether the cricketing world, indeed Wisden itself, has forgotten that the Century (not to mention the millennium) turned well over one year ago. Obviously, the Century, meaning the present century, will hereafter signify and denote the 21st century until the year 2100 (2099, if you will).

As such, assuming that the recent Wisden awards were for the 20th century in the calendar and not for any random 100-year period counted from some other year (say 1932, in which case the awards would be premature by some 30 years), their designation containing the term 'of the century' is manifestly incongruous and therefore wholly incorrect. It would not have been so if the awards had been declared and presented on or before December 31, 2000, at the latest.

To modify the verdict of the article in light of the above therefore: "(Gavaskar) deserves to be named the 'Indian Cricketer of the Twentieth Century' ''. Incidentally, the incongruity has turned into an absurdity in the case of the award given to V.V.S. Laxman for an innings which, in fact, he played in 2001, that is, in the 21st century.

One does not know whether anyone of consequence anywhere has noticed all this and whether anything would or can be done now to set the record straight.

Sharad Panse PuneKidney trade

This has reference to "Kidney commerce in Tamil Nadu" (September 13). When the seriousness of the lapses in dealing with the kidney trade is brought to the notice of the appropriate authority, it is the duty of the authority to take note of it and initiate action.

It is surprising that the authorities concerned turn a Nelson's eye to the extensive and deeply entrenched kidney trade, when specific cases are brought to their notice.

G.E.M. Manoharan Coimbatore